


Gingerbread Girl

by Wonderbabe2



Series: Pendulum [1]
Category: Red Rising Series - Pierce Brown
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Heroine, F/M, Fluff, Language, Mild Kink, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Plot Twist, Romance, Side Story, Size Difference, Slow Build, Smut, To Be Continued, Unpopular Character, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2020-07-08 21:01:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19876018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderbabe2/pseuds/Wonderbabe2
Summary: The future Masae of Tyche least expects is just around the corner.  And Karnus au Bellona just happens to be right at the centre of it.REWRITTEN CHAPTERS INCL:1-3





	1. Forte

Much to Masae’s surprise and liking, there is no one else in the garden. Not a soul. It's late; the sky is clear, the moon is high, and the air is cool and crisp and smells sweetly of the sea. It's a better-than-perfect early summer evening. She takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh oceanside air and lets herself relax just a little. The voices of many hundreds of laughing golds sing out from the open windows of the wedding hall, floating gracefully into the night, and the smells of dinner and pastries prepared earlier that day mingle together in a way that makes Masae’s mouth water. If there are leftovers, there’s a chance she and the rest of the crew might be able to take some for themselves at the end of the night, once cleanup is all said and done. She takes a seat on a nearby bench, leans back, and closes her eyes, hoping to find even just a morsel of peace and quiet before needing to put another smile on her face for the last few hours of her twenty-hour shift. Yes, she’s exhausted. They work them hard on the Faran estate -all day making the food, all night serving it and cleaning it up-, but Masae’s been working hard all her life. And has determined there is no real benefit in self-pity. The best thing one can do to stay sane is to savour the moments of rest. She sets her wrist-timer for forty minutes.

“You should be working.” Says a low rumbling voice from behind her. Masae, completely caught off guard, jumps in her seat and turns around sharply to identify whoever it is who she’s quite certain has been eyeing her this whole time. The eight-foot tall giant leaning lazily against the frame of the back door to the hall raises a nearly empty wine bottle to his stained lips takes a drink. His long, strikingly brilliant golden hair is wound into a loose braid that hangs down to the middle of his broad back. He wears a washed emerald green high collar tuxedo to match the wedding color palate, although the top three buttons of his shirt are undone, and the fastener is hanging loosely around his neck. Observing him now, seeing the way he shifts back and forth under his enormous weight and the glazed, only half-present look in his stern eyes, she’s not sure which version of him frightens her more -the sober or the drunk. Either way, the sight of Karnus au Bellona standing there so close to her makes Masae feel lightheaded, as it would no matter the circumstance.

“Need me to repeat myself?” He questions harshly, stepping forward. Even closing a foot of the distance between them causes Masae’s heart to jump. She grips the back of the bench, digging her fingernails hard into the wood, a reminder to keep her composure as he advances. 

“No no no, _dominus._ ” She replies, keeping her eyes downcast like a good, cowering servant. “I’m just on a scheduled break. It won’t be long before I need to go back in for cleanup anyways. I’m just resting a bit. Sorry, would you like to sit here? You can sit here, _dominus_.” She stands up hurriedly to offer him her seat on the bench, backing away from it as quickly as possible. Though her feet are aching from having stood on the hard floor since before sunrise, she’d prefer to tolerate the pain for a while longer rather than spend _any_ time in his suffocating presence. To her dismay, he shakes his head, taking another step forward.

“No need. Just move over.” He mutters.

Reluctantly obeying his orders, Masae slides herself over to the very edge of the bench to allow for Karnus’ monstrous frame to sit beside her. The gold sighs deeply as he slowly takes a seat on the hard wood, taking care not to lose his balance on the way down. He rubs a massive palm over his face and leans back, extending his legs outward, nearly taking up all the space the bench has to offer before taking another eager sip from his wine bottle. The alcohol smells delicious and sweet, like candied fruit and spices, and Masae soon finds her mouth watering against her will at the thought of a drink. She glances at Karnus for just a moment, but it’s enough for him to notice, and suddenly his golden eyes are on her. She nearly faints and is about to apologize for her boldness before, quite unexpectedly, he offers the bottle to her. She isn’t sure how to respond.

“A single bottle of this goes for about fifty-thousand credits on Luna.” He says. “Not worth the money in my opinion, but _you’ll_ never taste anything like it.”

Masae’s small hands are trembling in her lap. She fumbles with the hem of her brown smock, unsure of whether to accept or attempt to graciously refuse the offer. For the sake of her state of mind and her ability to function for the rest of the evening, she decides on the ladder. 

“My apologies, _dominus,_ I shouldn’t be drinking.” She protests. “I’m still working, technically.”

With an irritated huff, Karnus turns to face her abruptly and shoves the bottle hard into her hands. Masae’s heart nearly jumps out of her chest. He, or any gold for that matter, could take her head off effortlessly with one blow. She grips the neck of the bottle with both hands tightly. She can feel herself beginning to sweat.

“Take a gorydamn sip.” He orders. Though he detects no malice in his voice, the commanding strength of it alone is enough to make her want to shrivel up and disappear. She sinks into the back of the bench, shakily taking it from his hand.

“Yes, _dominus._ ” She obeys and, trembling, lifts the bottle to her lips.

The wine is the most delicious she’s ever tasted. The liquid goes down smoothly, spreading warmth across her chest, followed by a slight tingle that starts at the tips of her fingers and toes. Ever so slowly, a fog settles over Masae and she feels herself begin to relax slightly. It’s strong. Of course it is; any alcohol meant for gold consumption is made to be about 10 times stronger than even the most expensive lowcolour stuff. If she can feel the effects after just one sip, she’ll be drunk if she has any more, gods forbid.

“Good, isn’t it?” Karnus takes the wine bottle from her hands once again and takes another drink for himself. The faintest of grins rests on his lips as he does so.

“Yes, _dominus._ ” She replies, closing her eyes for a moment as she lets the gentle warmth of the wine’s effect wash over her. 

“Have more.”

Masae shakes her head ever so slightly. She couldn’t possibly handle another drink. “I’m so sorry. I really can’t, _dominus._ I could get in serious trouble for being intoxicated at work.” 

Karnus grabs her hand forcefully and wraps her fingers around the neck of the bottle. She wants to yank her hand away but doesn’t. His fingers are calloused and hard and warm and they linger for a moment, wrapped around her own smaller hand now holding the wine.

“That was an order.” He says.

Masae lifts the bottle to her lips once again with both hands and reluctantly swallows another mouthful of the sweet wine, after which they both fall quiet.

Silence fills the space between them as they sit side by side on the bench there in the dark. Despite their proximity to the festivities, the noise of the music and voices from inside the wedding hall seems to have almost faded into nothing. Luna shines brightly above them amidst a sea of stars. The tingling in Masae’s fingers and toes has dissolved into a calm rushing sensation, like water flowing over pebbles in a stream and she knows that if she were to stand up, she would most definitely lose her balance. She anxiously checks her time piece and finds she has just about 20 more minutes to sober up before the start of cleanup. Karnus meanwhile, is gazing up at the night sky intently, with his head resting back against his arms. He appears to be lost in thought. Either that or is possibly just too intoxicated to be thinking much of anything at all. Though, as Masae often does, she wonders if he too occasionally marvels at the vastness of the universe, if that’s what he might be doing in this very moment. Or maybe all golds are just too arrogant to consider a world beyond their own. _That would surely be a lonely way to exist_. She turns her head up to the sky and takes in the sight of the stars twinkling above. As if hearing her thoughts, Karnus turns to face her once again, his harsh golden eyes reflecting the light of the moon like those of a cat. 

“I should be getting back now.” He says matter-of-factly. “In the wedding party. I’m sure they miss me already.” 

He gets up from the bench and stretches his arms above his head. Standing, he’s more than just a giant, he’s colossal. Almost as large as an obsidian, quite literally speaking. Masae draws in a breath quietly, so as not to alert him of her fear. He’d take advantage of it. He’d relish in it. She nods curtly to him and counts her blessings he’s leaving her in peace at last.

“Thank you, _dominus._ For the wine.” She says.

“Take care of yourself.” He replies, looking back over his shoulder as he walks over to the doors, and an awful smile crosses over his lips. Masae gulps. She wasn’t entirely sure before, but now it is painfully clear he remembers her. He remembers everything.


	2. Err

It’s early afternoon-standard. Under the harsh artificial lighting of the starboard kitchen Masae works the dough for the pie crust with her small and delicate hands on the marble countertop, taking care to knead it just the right amount to create that perfect, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth kind of texture that all good, self-respecting crusts should possess. She must be especially careful to attain perfection, as this particular pie is to be a Delouri chocolate -an expensive and aristocratic Venusian rendition of the old Earth chocolate cream pie of which the premium quality flavourMod coco beans themselves can often go for over eight thousand credits a gram. She'll be grinding them by hand. And dessert worth this much is not made for just any occasion. Today is the twenty-first birthday celebration of the beloved Cassius au Bellona -the middle son of the stewards of Mars, Imperator Tiberius and Julia- and she, among many others on the ship, have been working all day to prepare a feast for this evening’s party. Though it’s been a long and tiring day, she is contented. Masae is proud to be both a talented baker and cook and it’s a blessing she manages to find a kind of respite in the work where she can no where else. Her hands, soft and nimble, are made for flour and sugar and butter. Carefully, she presses the crust into the creases of a deep glass dish and pricks the bottom with a fork while her sister Aido pours the batter for her lemon lavender cupcakes into tins. 

Around them, dozens of other lowcolour servants scramble about the kitchen, slipping and sliding about all over the floor, frantically shouting orders to one another as they wipe the sweat off their worried brows with the cuffs of their sleeves. Everyone is under pressure. It’s just amazing how time flies with a to-do list; there’s so much to be done and before long they’ll need to have it all ready to go. There’s absolutely no time to lose. Thankfully, Masae works well under pressure. If it weren’t for such a blessing, she’d probably have been dismissed long ago, like so many of her friends from before. She’s learned not to get too attached to anyone for that reason. Here people come and go as quickly as the days themselves. She’s glad she can find good company in Aido.

“Khansmei djah sowua tsai tsao phani o gwomma?”She says with a smile.

_“Do you have everything under control?”_

Masae rolls her eyes at her baby sister playfully as she puts the crust into the oven, only a little insulted that she’d even bother to ask such a question.

“Otreya djah amang amang bvho ya!”

_“You know I always do!”_

Their language is Wammu, or _Brownspeak_ by standard. The dialect they speak has its origins on Mercury, the planet they call home. Masae and Aido are from the grand city of Tyche, though it's been a long time since they've seen the place. Eight long months of working on the _Nebula_ and she aches for home. Almost every night she dreams of the sun kissed shores of Lake Iloo and picking fresh vegetables from their balcony garden, watching little Momit play the courts with his friends on the ground. Their life in Tyche was simple, but with their parents now gone, the girls couldn't earn enough money in the city to keep their apartment and provide for their youngest sibling both, so they are now bound to this ship and the house that owns it indefinitely out of necessity. It's a shame, but perhaps, if they can't live free, they can at least create a better future for Momit and ensure he never has to take the route they have to survive. She misses him so much it hurts.

"Pulam ghetske. Qinti bhvo nehne bvho pteta linga." Aido passes a spoonful of perfectly fluffy, violet tinted icing to Masae after she tosses the cupcakes into the oven behind them.

_"Try this. Tell me if I need to add anything to it."_

Masae dips a finger into the peak. 

"Foalo nal." 

_"The texture is_ good."

The icing tastes sweet and mildly of lavender. She nods and gives her sister a thumbs up. Aido sticks the bowl of icing into the fridge and starts on the next set of cupcakes while Masae begins working on the filling for the pie.

"Girls," Someone shouts. Masae looks in the direction of the voice calling them. It's Conny with a pad of paper and a pen in hand, her frizzy, thick red hair spilling out the sides of her cap. The supervisor looks absolutely burnt out. Dark circles line sockets of her crimson eyes. Her cheeks look pale and sunken in. "How are we looking at this end?" She asks, her voice cracking slightly, pen raised above the notepad.

"No issues here." Aido replies. "We have everything on track." She looks at Masae to confirm. 

"Yeah, we're good here."

Conny breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods." She groans as she marks the paper with two checks. "Keep up the good work ladies. No slip ups today. We need everyone at a hundred and ten percent."

The sisters nod obediently and watch as Conny turns to address the pair at the station across from them. Aido can't help but stifle a chuckle. She finds the woman amusing in her intensity. Aido has always been the one with the sense of humour; she approaches things in a lighthearted manner than Masae could never replicate. At times Masae marvels at how her sister can remain so joyful and carefree under the constant stress and cruel management of working on the _Nebula_. She often wishes she could be the same, but her nature prevents it. She's too serious. Always has been. She can't help but feel envy towards her sister at times for the way she effortlessly goes through life, bending along with the challenges as opposed to putting up a fight. And she's beautiful. Poised where Masae is clumsy. Charismatic and charming. Masae is neither charismatic nor charming. She fades easily into the background, staying silent when she can, preferring to keep her distance from others. Growing up the sisters were often told how alike they were in their appearance, but as they aged, Aido grew to be the taller of the two, thin and waif-like as their father, while Masae grew no taller than 5'3", but developed curves where her sister never really did. Aido wears her hair long. While both sisters have those thick black curls they inherited from their mother, Aido's falls all the way down to her lower back, and Masae prefers to keep her hair just above her shoulders. Just like their parents, the girls' eyes are such a deep brown they are almost black. And both have that sunbaked Mercurian skin the color of caramel.

**********

Hours go by as the crew of brown cooks and bakers toil in the kitchen. Through the service window, Masae can see the set-up filtering in through the side entrance at the far end of the giant dining hall. They get to work immediately, pulling tables and chairs out of storage, scrambling to throw up banners. The closer it gets to eight o'clock, the more chaotic the place grows. Cooks start yelling even louder, supervisors run back and forth across the hall and the kitchen to make sure everything is on track while workers sweat from the heat of ten convection ovens all cooking at once. Masae and Aido are arranging the fresh fruit into elaborate displays on silver platters. Their delicate fingers working quickly to finish it all within the hour. Aido says something to Masae just as a pan crashes to the floor from the station beside them.

"Nagbhvo?" ' _Pardon me?'_

"Djah djov ahrgramma mana getchop whe?" " _Wanna check out the viewports after work?"_

Masae is about to reply when she notices the two men standing by the door of the kitchen speaking to a brown supervisor. They are giants. Golds. Her heart nearly jumps out of her chest. One, the larger of the two, wears his long, sun golden hair in a loose braid that falls to the middle of his back. His brow is heavy and furrowed as his eyes wander the room while the brown man speaks, not bothering to give him the privilege of his full attention. The other, possessing a darker complexion and short cropped hair, has a look of mild amusement plastered on his face as he watches the brown fumbling over his words. The brown, Londo, is a close friend of Aido's. They spend nearly every night in each other's company. He's a good man. Kind. Masae finds herself growing angry at the lack of respect shown for him. It's the perfect embodiment of gold arrogance. He savors seeing the little man struggle out of fear to speak in his presence. Entitled bastards. Masae catches the eyes of the larger gold and quickly turns away again. She notices her hands are shaking. Golds _hate_ Brownspeak.

"Enough," She pleads her sister and motions her head towards the golds at the door, but to her dismay Aido only responds with a grin. Her youth shows then. She doesn't understand fearing them. 

"Oooh, manbhve saurr ghatsep dja! Seht paoya.” She says, barely bothering to keep her voice down.

_“That one's looking at you! He's handsome.”_

Aido is right. He is handsome, statuesque even, though there’s a kind of sadism in his eyes that she can see even from this distance as he eyes her with an intensity that sends her pulse racing. Aureate to the core, no doubt a purist. She can tell he’s the type that sees all other colours as nothing more than animated dirt. Masae sucks in a sharp breath and slaps her sister hard on the wrist. 

"Aido, _shut up_." She pleads a little to loudly and suddenly the place falls silent. Masae feels her heart drop into her stomach. Everyone is watching them. The gold men have their eyes trained on the girls now, and are shoving lowcolours carelessly out of the way as they make their way through the kitchen towards them. They're too big for the space, and have to twist to fit through the spaces between the counters. It's incredible the difference in size. That gold and brown originally came from the same species is a trip for the mind. _St_ _upid Aido. Stupid stupid Aido._ Masae drops her utensils, freezing, and urges her now frightened sister to do the same. They're in front of them now, towering over them, glaring down menacingly. There's a storm in their eyes. A bloodlust like nothing she's ever seen before.

"Not watching those dirty brown tongues of yours, girls?" Says the one with the short hair. He then glances around at the others in the kitchen. They've picked up the pace again and are plodding away at their respective tasks, pretending not to notice the scene unfolding in the center of the room. He scoffs, somehow disgusted by the sight. "Working so hard all through the day. You really are an industrious -complacent, but industrious- people." He turns to his friend.

"Karnus, my goodman, it is your own brother's birthday feast they're helping to prepare, isn't it? Wouldn't you consider it a mite disrespectful to be running their filthy little mouths with their bastard tongue? Might contaminate the food."

So _this_ is Karnus au Bellona, the eldest of Tiberius and Julia's three sons. He's truly a giant. Karnus says nothing in reply, but with a look of indifference eyes Masae up and down twice over, not bothering to spare Aido a glance. 

"Tell me your name." He orders. 

"My name is Masae, _dominus._ "

The gold holds out his hand, and for a moment, Masae thinks he means for her to shake it, though she quickly dismisses the silly thought. 

"Give me your arm." He says. Trembling, she does as he asks and hesitantly places it in his massive palm. He nods slightly, in a way that seems almost like approval as his fingers wrap firmly around her small wrist. 

"Your sister has a lot to learn." He says, tightening his grip, and with his free hand beckons Aido closer. With slumped shoulders, she steps forward, her eyes bleeding shame and fear. The short-haired gold can’t help but grin at the sight. It’s a terrible grin, cold and cruel and contemptuous. Karnus’ expression, however, remains stoic as he regards her.

"Watch. Remember this is happening because of you.”

Masae’s eyes grow wide with terror as she realizes what’s about to happen and blind instinct causes her to pull her arm back, to try and free herself from his grip, but Karnus only tightens his hold on her and yanks the arm further up and away from her body, nearly lifting her off her own feet.

“Please-,” She whimpers in response, searching his stern golden eyes for any sign of mercy only to find apathy. It almost hurts her more to know that he cares so little. With one swift, unceremonious motion, he jerks the hand holding her wrist to the left and breaks her arm at the elbow, producing an audible crack. Masae screams out in agony and stumbles back against the counter, clutching her broken arm to her chest like a wounded dog, and to her utter embarrassment she begins to cry. The short haired gold only laughs in response as he watches her writhe. 

“Weak bitch.” He sneers. She wants to rip his teeth out. 

Karnus au Bellona turns his cold eyes to Aido at last.

"Have you learned your lesson?" He asks. 

"Yes," She mutters.

"Yes?"

"Yes, _dominus."_


	3. Mutatio

Now on a heavy dose of Cynextin blockers, the aching in Masae’s arm is finally beginning to subside. She’s casted up to just below her shoulder and is already losing her damn mind over how the blunt edge of it has been digging straight into the soft tender flesh of her underarm, rubbing the skin there raw. She can’t fucking sleep. Before it was because of the pain, but now even with the pain dissipating she still just can’t seem to calm her mind. What a whirlwind of a night. After that Bellona bastard and his friend had finished having their fun and were gone at last, Londo promptly proceeded to call medbay staff to collect her. As if being publicly humiliated and disrupting the workflow of everyone else in the kitchen wasn’t bad enough, she’d been rolled out of the hall on a fucking gurney. She could have very well walked, but yellows are stringent, rule-abiding sons of bitches whose top priority is to follow protocol at all costs, and they could see bone. It was a bad break -one that required a surgical fix before she could be placed in a cast, and she to top it all off Masae was told she wouldn’t be able to return to work for at least four weeks. Not until after the cast has been removed. That’d done her in. No way to work, no way to earn. All because of that awful, cruel, conceited, thoughtless gold prod. She tilts her head back and sighs exasperatedly, urging sleep to come at last. She must wake up early tomorrow, before the rush to the employment liaison deck where she’ll need to fill out an incident report, but it’s already coming up on S-3:00 and, unfortunately, she’s still wide awake.

Masae groans in discomfort as she stretches carefully across her cot to reach for the glass of water on the bedside table with her good arm, being mindful not to roll over onto her cast. In the soft orange light of the micro chemiLamp that sits on the nightstand she can see Aido asleep in the cot next to her, her rib cage rising and falling rhythmically with each shallow breath. Masae’s heart reaches out to her poor sister. She was so afraid tonight. Cried like a small child when they took her away, and when Masae finally returned to domestic after the surgery, Aido had been waiting for her in her cot, eyes and cheeks all puffy and red. Thank the gods she’s asleep now. She needs to rest. Masae dials up the brightness on the chemiLamp and quietly pulls the top drawer of the nightstand so as not to wake any others around her. Her and Aido’s are only two of the hundreds of cots that fill their bunk -that being the domestic forces. All around her lay hundreds of other sleeping or restless reds and browns who will all need to be waking early tomorrow. She’d hate to disturb any of them by making too much noise. The colours prefer to keep separate by choice. Reds on starboard, browns on port. It doesn’t bother Masae all that much; each of the colours, and especially the low colours, share a common experience that none other than their own kind can truly understand. That and reds all too often tend to be a tad bit too intense for their brown counterparts. 

In the drawer lies an old, stained photograph. Vintage tech. Pre-holo. It's a picture of her family, all five of them: mum, dad, Momit, Aido, and herself. They're standing in front of the Welk river, each of them wearing a wide brimmed hat and holding a fishing pole, all smiling from ear to ear. The picture must have been taken nearly eight years ago, when Masae was around fourteen and Aido eleven. Momit would have only been five or six. How time flies by. Mum and dad are gone now. Left her and the others with only a few cans of soup in the cupboard and a dozen bills to pay. There were no relatives to speak of, since both mum and dad were the only children in their families and grandparents had long since passed. One day they were a normal, happy family and the next Masae, Aido, and Momit were left with the painful task of clearing out their parents’ room. Suddenly, the three of them were left to fend for themselves. To support little Momit, the girls had to find work, and so for four years, since the time she was eighteen, Masae worked double shifts at the chemiLamp factory to cover most of the bills so that Aido could keep her hours part-time and finish her schooling. Then when Aido had finally graduated and Momit was old enough to take care of himself, the sisters walked straight into Tyche's _BSEA_ to take the next shuttle up to whichever gold ship happened to be in Mercury's orbit that day. Masae remembers the ride up. Watching the city grow smaller and smaller as the shuttle rose up to and past the clouds and towards the stars. She had never seen anything like it. Now, all she wishes for is to be back on the ground. Ever so slowly Masae begins to feel the call of sleep. Her eyelids are becoming heavy and her thoughts are turning evermore disjointed. She slips the photograph underneath her pillow, clicks the dial on the lamp, and turns onto her back.

**********

"You're a liability."

Juminee cu Clavet's dark copper eyes peer up emotionlessly from the stack of papers on his desk. At the top of the stack sits her file with the completed incident report. Juminee is of the thin, wiry sort. All skin and bone and not much else, save a shrewd and ugly rodent-like visage. He motions for Masae to take a seat in the chair across from him. A hint of contempt lingers on his upper lip as he eyes her coldly. His gaze briefly passes to her bandaged arm.

"What happened to you anyways?" He asks, sounding more irritated that anything else. He thinks her stupid. She tries not to let the thought bother her, but it does.

"I broke it." She quickly replies, not wanting to get herself into any more trouble by giving the impression of trying to accuse a gold for causing the injury. Juminee curls his wormy lips into a sneer. 

"I can _see_ that, you daft cur. What I am asking you is _how_ you managed to break it."

His dislike of her is startlingly overt and she’s taken aback by it. She knows coppers can sometimes be quite nasty, but she never imagined them to be so hateful. Although it hurts to know he thinks so lowly of her and her kind, she knows he only resents them for it because he resents being born under gold as well. He wishes he could be more. He craves it. Being brown is simple. You know your place is as a servant, but to be so close to the top while knowing you’ll never make it there…it must be a never-ending source of frustration. Or so she thinks. Masae takes in a deep breath to calm herself and explains how, in the chaos of the evening, she slipped on a puddle of cooking oil on the floor and fell on her arm the wrong way. Not an inventive story, but thankfully it’s enough to convince the man. Juminee asks her no more questions. Nodding, he tears off a small green slip of paper and stamps the upper right-hand corner before handing it to her.

"Watch where you step next time.” He says. “Sign the bottom of the slip and hand it to your bunk attendant to excuse yourself from work. Your supervisors will be notified of your release today. You'll be shipped out at the next docking station. So, that means in about a week. Have a good day now."

The copper waves a bony hand at Masae to leave the office before he turns his attention back to his papers. She’s almost certain she can see the slightest of self-satisfied grins tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

The sound of Masae's own heartbeat rings in her ears as she walks down the nearly empty hall of the EL deck. She feels nauseous. _The next docking station?_ That could be anywhere in the core, and without any money to get herself home with she could end up being stuck there for a very long time. The thought is absolutely unbearable. She might never get to see her family again. Holding back tears, she presses the button to call the elevator. It has a long way to go before it gets to where she is on level 32. All the way down from the command deck on level 50 at the very top of the ship. Good. That gives her more than enough time to collect herself. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly as she rubs her temples in a soothing manner. She’ll figure this out. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay. 

With weary eyes, Masae tracks the elevator’s descent: …40…, 39…, 38..., 37..., 36..., 35..., 34..., 33..., 32… The doors open slowly with a gentle beep when it reaches her level. She’s about to step inside when she looks up and sees something out of a nightmare. She nearly collapses to the floor. It’s just her terrible luck that Karnus au Bellona happens to be standing on the other side of the doors. And worse, he’s alone. A faint smile appears on his lips when he notices her staring at him in shock. The man is an intimidating figure. Just as tall and strapping and fierce as she remembers. Today he dons a fitted jay-blue and gold uniform with badges on display on the lapels, and a pair of heavy black combat boots. A razor hangs at his hip, coiled over a loop like a thin, silver rope. He's at ease, leaning back on the handrail, gold sigils on the backs of his huge hands glinting under the overhead lights.

"Are you coming in or what?" He asks. Masae can only manage a small noise in response. She’s paralyzed. Her feet are stuck to the ground where she stands. As the elevator doors begin to close, Karnus reaches out an arm to stop them. She forces herself to speak.

"It's okay, _dominus._ I'll take the next one." 

"Nonsense," He replies, "We're both going down. Get in."

Unable to protest, Masae reluctantly steps inside the elevator. Even though she dares not raise her eyes to him, she can feel him watching her and it makes her skin crawl. She hates him. 

“Your arm, how is it?” 

Masae can’t help but glance up at the question, incredulous. He’s taunting her. She doesn’t reply.

“How’s your arm?” He asks again, more forcefully this time. Masae swallows down her anger, knowing she’ll have to answer him whether she wants to or not.

“It’s-it’s fine.” She mutters. Karnus laughs dryly. 

“You must despise me.”

He’s not wrong about that. Part of her wishes she could jump on him right now and gouge his pretty eyes out, smash his face in as a fair trade for ruining her life. She wishes she could make him squirm and cry like he did her.

“I can understand why.” He continues. “I must have screwed you. Coming from EL I’m assuming you were released because of your injury. I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to tear my throat out. It’s unfair, isn’t it.” The gold lets out an obnoxiously dramatic sigh and shifts his weight, causing the rail to sink a little. Unfair doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Masae shifts further away from him and into the corner of the lift. Thank gods they’re getting close to her level. 

“Look at me.” He huffs. Masae tenses. She turns and lifts her head. Karnus is eyeing her with an intensity that makes her feel even smaller than she already is. 

“You know, I can help you if you’d like. Stay on and come with me to the lower deck. I have a job for you.”


	4. Motus

Aido and Londo are sitting side by side on the edge of Aido's cot and are, as young lovers often are, engaged with each other in a riveting conversation about nothing. They seem happy in each other's company and it gives Masae a sense of relief. Londo is a kind man. Over the years, Masae has always considered herself to be responsible for her younger siblings and especially so after their parents' passing. To know that there is someone else with a good heart to watch over Aido is a blessing she does not take for granted. They wave to her when they see her approaching, an expression of sympathy on her younger sister's face. She must look like a wreck; without her good arm, it makes readying for the day a difficult task, and not to mention she was in a frenzy to make it to the recruitment and release deck before the rush. She's exhausted. Drained from the events of the day and the lack of sleep from the night before. Her hair must be as wild and matted as a cobraduck's nest.

"Where were you this morning?" Aido questions.

Masae sighs, taking a seat on her own cot across from Londo and her sister.

"I'm being released. They're shuttling me back at the next docking station."

It hurts to say it. Aido's face sinks before it fills with anger.

"But it's only going to take a few weeks to heal, at most!" She yells, "This is bullshit! You're great at your job! The best even! How can they do this to you!?"

"Aido, there are plenty of others that are more than qualified to do my job. I'm a waste of space like this."

" _Don't_ say that."

With her mouth slacken in disbelief, Aido's eyes wander up as she searches for something to say, for something to remedy the situation. Then her brow furrows and her lips form a thin hard line.

"Those gold bastards. Pieces of entitled shit they are. Think they can just do whatever they damn well please without facing the consequences-"

She catches herself mid sentence and frantically reaches to embrace her older sister, apologizing profusely as dry sobs begin to escape her chest. Londo watches on in silent sympathy, not quite sure of what to say.

"Gods, I'm so sorry, Masae. If I had just stopped talking like an idiot-"

"No, no, no! Don't be, please! It's not your fault. I'm gonna be fine. I'll use the credits I've saved up working to make my way back to Tyche once I've got my bearings." _Lie._ "I'll be there waiting for you with Momit when you get back." _Lie._ "I'll take care of him for us." _Lie._ "I have at least a week before we dock, so we'll have plenty of time to spend together before that." _Lie. All lies. Damned liar._ In this moment, Masae despises herself. The last minutes spent with her own sister, her own flesh and blood, one so dear to her, spent spitting out disgusting, filthy, damaging lies. And yet she lies so well, to their faces, it's like second nature. 

A loud beep resounds through the bunk, notifying everyone of lights out. Lovers rush to share single cots -sex lives are anything but private-, any fights are quickly quelled by room attendants, voices lower to hushed whispers as the overhead lights begin to flicker off one by one. Londo and Aido rise up together, hands entwined and head in the direction of where Londo's sleeping pad is located. She turns back and flashes Masae a half-embarrassed look, a gentle smile rested on her delicate face. She'll never see the girl again.

Masae lies patiently awake in her cot. The bunk is deathly quiet. She checks her time piece. It reads 3:00 am standard. Ever so carefully ad quietly, so as not to wake those sleeping beside her, she rises out of bed, slips on her well worn sneakers and stuffs the laces into the sides of the shoes, forgoing an attempt to tie them with one hand. There isn't a lot to carry, save her IDs and and small bag of keepsakes that she has been storing in the drawer of her nightstand. No time to think about what she is leaving behind. As painful as it is to admit, there's good money to be made from the Bellona's proposal, enough to keep Momit in school for the entire year and Masae wouldn't dare sacrifice that opportunity. Especially in the face of the alternative. Life can be so cruel. On one hand, lose what remains of your entire family and be left stranded with no money and no future in an unfamiliar place so very far from home and on the other, be given the opportunity to provide for your family while giving up all hope of seeing them again and signing the rest of your life away to someone else's whims. The decision was between the lesser of two evils. It isn't entirely out of the question that the gold has been playing her from the beginning, that he singled her out out of pure boredom to turn her into an object of his pointless manipulation, but there's no time, and no point to think about that now.

The supervising room attendant lets Masae pass with her summoning token. She is escorted to the shuttle deck by a silent grey guard, who follows just a step behind her at all times. When they at last arrive on deck, there are two other browns and five reds waiting quietly in a semicircle around the mouth of a shuttle, one of the older models by the looks of it. A harsh looking, relatively short grey captain stands at the foot of the ramp. A lit burner pokes out of his trimmed beard.

"Look who finally decided to show up." He snorts when he notices Masae. "You're more than welcome to stand anywhere you like."

She quickly finds a place at the edge of the circle beside an older red woman of about 50 years, though it's hard to tell.

The grey opens his mouth to speak. 

"Alright, listen up, rats. Let's get this over and done with so we can all start making some decent money. The good news is, you lucky bastards are gonna be raking in more coin than you're entire families will know what to do with. The bad news, you probably won't live to see it!"


	5. Timor

The wedding guests are beginning to trail out of the hall, most of them piss drunk and many with pinks on their arms. They stumble past Masae without a word or a glance as she gets to work cleaning up their now empty tables. A small number of guests and those in the wedding party remain. Some are circled up around a trio of pinks, throwing out a slew of drunken requests and groping at the women as they perform a kind of strip tease. It makes Masae sick to her stomach. She spots Karnus seated just at the edge of the debauchery with a glass of wine in his massive hand. She can tell he is thoroughly inebriated, though actively working to keep his composure. His head dips a little before he catches himself dozing off and stands abruptly, causing a few heads to turn from the dancing pinks. One older man with streaks of grey in his beard flashes him a beaming smile and claps him on the shoulder with a joyful laugh, pulling him into the circle. "You prime my goodman?" He jokes. "Enjoying your evening like a spoiled pixie I trust!" The gold barely acknowledges him. His drunken gaze is fixated on a spot on the wall. Somebody backs up suddenly without sparing a look beforehand, knocking the wine glass out of Karnus's hand. It shatters on the floor. There's a _"Whoop!"_ and laughter from some members of the circle in response. The bearded man snaps his fingers in Masae's direction.

"You, here, clean it up." He orders, all mirth from his eyes now gone. Masae nods politely and fetches a dustpan. When she returns, the performance has finished. The Bellona is sitting alone, backwards on a chair at an empty table, eyeing the broken glass on the polished smooth hardwood flooring. Unbraided, his long golden hair is a curly tangled mane. Even when intoxicated, the man looks stoic and cruel, just sitting there, staring. He shifts his gaze over to her as she begins to sweep up the little bits of glass. Though she is less than four feet away from where he is sitting, she deliberately avoids acknowledging his presence until he speaks.

"Back again so soon?"

Masae lifts her eyes up from her work and nods at him.

"Just doing my job,... _dominus."_ She replies, struggling to keep the venom out of her voice. He huffs and leans forward.

"Hmm..., watch those little _rat_ fingers." He points lazily at the shattered glass. Masae feels her face growing hot. She can tolerate being ignored, stepped on, and ordered around carelessly as a brown in the service of golds, but the insults she has never grown accustomed to. Barely thinking, she flashes the massive, drunken killing machine a fiery scowl and says, "Maybe I wouldn't need to watch my little _rat_ fingers if you'd better held onto your cup."

_Oh fuck._

Half in fear and half in shock of her own words, Masae drops the dustpan and closes her eyes, preparing herself for one of the gold's giant calloused hands to snap her neck. But nothing happens. She opens her eyes to see Karnus still sitting there, staring at straight at her, wide-eyed with half a smirk stuck to his loathsome face. She doesn't know what to make of it. The hall is almost entirely empty now, save a few red and brown servants who are picking up the last of the garbage scattered about. She knows they are aware of what's happening, but in this line of work, it serves people best to mind their own business. The gold breaks the silence with a chuckle.

"Well... I'll be gorydamned. If I could manage to stand without tipping over, I might snap you in half. You're quite full of fire, little one. I'm impressed. What do they call you?"

Masae nearly collapses from lack of oxygen. She reminds herself to breathe. All the anger wiped clean from her system, she stutters in response, "My name is Masae." 

In reply, he nods his head to her in what she might even consider to be respect and waves his hand at her to continue about her work.

"Go on." He mutters, "Might not be so lucky next time."

Masae gives him a little bow and the two exchange a look of something strange in the fraction of a second that follows. She turns on her heel and walks off to finish her duties for the evening.


	6. Ruina

The shuttle breaks through the atmosphere violently, causing Masae and its five other passengers to lurch forward in their seats from the impact. Fear can be seen on each and every one of their faces. Most of the others are older, in their forties or fifties, except for a thin red boy sitting directly across from Masae who looks to be about eighteen. He looks terrified, his eyes closed tight, and his hand gripping under the edge of his seat so desperately that his knuckles are white. He's whispering a prayer to himself repetitively, wishing for death to come swiftly if it must. Masae wishes for the same. Their descent is cut short by PulseBeam that rips straight through the hull of the ship, cleaving the old red woman in two. The halves separate in the air, revealing a view of the New Zealand horizon, the island and sea. Time stands still for a moment as the two halves of the shuttle drift further away from each other, both following their own altered trajectories to a crash landing. Wind whips rapidly across the mouth of the severed shuttle as they careen down towards a white sanded shore. In those final moments of falling, lack of oxygen renders Masae unconscious.

***********

Darrow watches his longtime friend and comrade in arms disengage firing function on the PulseCannon and his heart fills with a deep sorrow. The ship's descent is impeded by the blast as it is cleaved almost perfectly down the middle by the PulseBeam. Such needless violence. Servo regards him with a look of quiet shame. He wouldn't have done it had he not believed it to be the right thing to do considering the circumstances, but Darrow can't help but feel anger towards him for his recklessness.

"Bellona ship-"

"Likely shuttling civilians. We don't target civilians, Sevro. We're sending out a team to collect the survivors."

Sevro clears his sinuses with a snort and spits on the ground in front of him. 

"I hate to say this, reap, but what if this is a trap?"

"Then we'll take care of it. _Mustang, Screwface, Pebble, Daxo, who wants to take a walk?"_

***********

Masae wakes in a dark cocoon. She is suspended in a soft, but firm cushion. Her arms and legs are positioned in an awkward fashion, each angled upwards as if she has been caught midway through falling. She imagines, since she can feel an aching pain lingering about her head, that she must therefore not be dead, since death would be much more comfortable than this. She breathes a sigh of relief. Slowly, Masae struggles to pull herself forward out of the cocoon. When the tips of her fingers can finally feel the coolness of fresh New Zealand air, she makes a move to grip the outer flesh of her crash bubble and pry herself from it. She falls to the ground and involuntarily begins to slide towards the shuttle's control pit and away from pale blue sky above. Thinking quickly, she catches herself from sliding to the bottom on the edge of another seat further down the hull. It takes a moment for her to notice the piece of shrapnel lodged into the seat's safety bubble and the wetness of fresh blood dripping onto her hand from a crease made by the weight of the body trapped inside. She nearly screams. There were five of them on the ship at the start. Now there must only be two of them there, if one of the others managed to survive alongside herself that is. A stream of bright crimson blood runs down the length of her forearm as she continues to hold onto the seat. With all the strength she has, Masae hoists herself along the floor and swings her free hand around to grab the edge of the next seat in front of her. She repeats the process twice more until she is peering over the edge of the shuttle's gaping mouth. As luck would have it, she has landed on a beach. Gulls flock along the water's edge, hunting for small crabs burrowing in there in the sand. They are similar to the ones in the gulf of Bentos, a popular highcolor tourist destination just West of Tyche on the Sycorax sea. Masae remembers hitchhiking all the way to Azinon with her childhood friend Shen when they were just 17. That view of the ocean from the GravWay was vast and incredible. 

Masae is just about to make her way down the side of the craft when she hears a muffled yell from behind her. She turns back to see a pale hand protruding from another seat's crash bubble frantically waving about. A second hand squeezes out before the elbows follow and pry the sides of the cushion apart to make room for a terrified and freckly face. It's the red boy from before. He survived the crash. The boy struggles to pull himself out of the bubble and lands on the floor with a hard thud. He reacts faster than Masae when he realizes that down is not down after all and quickly grabs a hold of his seat to stop himself from sliding to the back of the ship. 

"Welcome to the land of the living." She jokes as she straddles the edge, her right foot dangling nearly 20 feet above the ground. The red boy nods to her with his eyes glazed over in shock. She pays no mind to it.

"I'm Masae. What's your name?" 

The boy takes a minute to swallow and catch his breath before replying.

"Bryant."

"Well, Bryant, unfortunately you and I might be the only survivors."

Together the pair make their way down from the ship and head for the treeline. Evening nears as the sun drifts towards the horizon. Masae and Bryant gather dried logs and branches for their fire and begin to set up camp for the night. Bryant is good company. He's quiet and hardworking and doesn't seem to be much interested in engaging in small talk. He is also much stronger than Masae had expected him to be for his size. They are able to collect a fair bit of wood for a fire and prepare a decent shelter in time for dusk.

"So, what's for dinner?" She asks with a grin as the two finally stop to rest, hoping to tease a smile out of him. She is unsuccessful. Bryant wordlessly snaps the branches off a white driftwood pole and pokes at the fire.

"Nervous?"

He glances up at her and manages a nod.

"Yeah, well, what do we really have to lose is the way I see it." She replies. He remains quiet. 

Crickets and frogs chirp around them as the remnants of the sun disappear to give way to night and the more dangerous nocturnal creatures that follow. They toss more wood onto the fire to keep it high. Before long, Bryant has fallen asleep. 


	7. Magis

Masae soon discovers that some members of the Bellona family are expected to remain on the Faran estate for an extended period of time in light of Kellan au Bellona's recent marriage to Diante au Faran, the youngest daughter of Brutus and Helen. She occasionally spots Karnus and his younger brother about the property while going about her duties, though never together. She often wonders at the business of golds, as it is something she so rarely catches glimpses of. Even so, she senses that the presence of house Bellona on the estate has to do with much more than just a wedding. And more intriguing still is the fact that those important conversations had between military leaders are held behind closed doors to small, private rooms with servants prohibited from entering at any point in time. Masae can make a guess at the cause in this change of strategy and the thought of it makes her smile.  
  
  
  
The day is warm and sunny in that perfect Earth-like way, the likes of which no other planet's terraforming results ever succeeded in replicating. On Mercury, the sun is smoldering and sharp at the height of any day, regardless of the season. The sunlight on Mars, on the other hand, feels dull and damp in comparison. Earth is nearly perfection, and it is where Masae has made her home over the past six months. Today, she is picking fresh apples in the orchard with which to make pies. Songbirds can be heard fluttering about the garden, going about their daily business. The genetically modified fruits of the apple trees -larger, fleshier, and more flavourful than their pre-conquering ancestors- hang heavy on the branches, waiting to be harvested in time for the beginning of autumn. Masae stands perched on a ladder with a basket in one arm and the other reaching up for the ripest apples to pick. She hums an old tune of her father's, a song he wrote when she was just a child called " _Ghyame Sep_ ", meaning precious or beautiful one. Masae's moments in the garden are peaceful and calm. The work is slow by nature, so she is not scolded if she doesn't keep a fast pace. Noma and Raud are off elsewhere harvesting summer berries, leaving Masae alone with her own thoughts, the music of the songbirds, and the sun shining on her brown skin.  
  
  
Her peace is disturbed when a man's voice the texture of caramel addresses her.  
  
"Good afternoon, madam." He calls from behind her. Masae tilts her head so she can see him through the branches. Cassius au Bellona is shorter than his older brother, though still powerfully built. His face is kind. A small linear scar adorns his right cheekbone, a mark of status in gold society. Masae lowers from the ladder to greet him politely.  
  
"Good afternoon, _dominus_. Is there any way I can serve you at this time?"  
  
Cassius offers her a smile.  
  
"Well actually, I requested your whereabouts since I wanted to personally congratulate you on your fearlessness. I heard through the grapevine that you gave my brother a run for his money! I think you have a lot of us impressed. What's your name?"  
  
Masae is stunned. She fumbles with the fabric of her skirt as she thinks of how to respond.  
  
"Oh, my name is Masae, _dominus_. I'm not sure what to say...I suppose I didn't expect to be praised for speaking out of turn like that."  
  
"Well, listen. I despise my brother as much as you probably do, so it brings me joy hearing that someone has finally called him out on his bullshit. Most golds are even afraid of him."  
  
"Yes, I think he was just as surprised as I was, _dominus_. I certainly wasn't thinking straight."  
  
"Thank Jove for not thinking straight then. It seems you've had some sort of lasting effect on him. He's been quieter, and less of a cunt, which I think is probably great for everyone. Why don't you come for a walk with me? I've already taken care of this. You won't get in trouble" He motions to the ladder up in the tree. Masae nods in obedience and the pair continue down the grassy path that runs down the middle of the apple orchard.  
  
  
Cassius and Masae spend quite a while in conversation about a variety of topics. Cassius is friendly and kind enough, but he still carries that air of gold superiority that Masae just can't stand. And as she had assumed, he has come with a purpose in mind. They are standing at the edge of the orchard, just before the terrace when he makes his proposal.  
  
"So, Masae, it has been lovely getting to know you this afternoon and I thank you for your time. I would also like to offer you a short-term position that pays double what you are currently earning. As you might know, my family will be staying here for a while longer to take care of some important business. I will personally pay you twice your usual salary if you agree to clean my brother's room for the rest of our stay here. Even triple if you want! Take your time thinking about it, since I know it isn't the best job out there, and I will admit that it is mainly for my own personal amusement. And that being said, I am willing to negotiate a deal that suits you best."  
  
Ah, money, the great motivator. Masae draws in a breath and forces a smile for the younger Bellona.   
  
"Thank you so much for your generosity, _dominus._ I would gladly accept your offer."


	8. Fortunae

Masae stands nervously in front of the door to Karnus's quarters, cursing herself for acting a fool once again and accepting a proposal from a gold. They're all the same at the end of the day. She reluctantly knocks on the wood polymer composite and waits for the man to answer. Heavy footsteps can be heard on the other side making their way closer. The door flies open, revealing the massive frame of the older Bellona clad in a black tracksuit, golden hair pulled back into that same braid he always wears. His face is flushed and his breathing is heavy. He smiles wickedly at the sight of little Masae standing there with her trolley of cleaning supplies waiting to be invited into the room.

"You!" He laughs, seeming only a little surprised. "How fortunate we are to keep finding ourselves in each other's company. Come in, little one."

Karnus takes a step back to allow her to enter the room. It is large, oblong-shaped, and smells of sweat and ocean water. There is clothing rack and a hallway just past it to the right as well as a small kitchen off to the left of the entrance. A lower level with a bed and study sits just down a short flight of stairs where a glass wall looks out towards the forest and a distant beach in the South East. A lithe pink with a vacant look in her eyes lounges naked on the bed, her long brown hair cascading down her pale shoulders and onto her chest. She momentarily catches Masae in a glance, but then shifts her eyes to something else in the room. Karnus closes the door behind her. His close proximity to her makes her flinch. 

"I was just about to shower." He says. "Clean what needs to be cleaned. And don't worry about her, _s_ _he'll_ be leaving." He makes a motion to the pink on the bed who rises wordlessly and gathers her clothes from the floor. She nods to Masae politely as she slips out the door, leaving her alone in the room with the gold. The quiet in the room is suffocating. 

"So..." Karnus finally breaks the silence. He leans back on the kitchen counter and fills a tall glass with water as his bright golden eyes dance with cruel mischief, no doubt musing over endless ways to play with and torture his new toy.

"Masae," He rolls the name over his tongue, as if contemplating the sound of it. "Forgive me if I've made a mistake. I'd had quite a bit to drink the other night. But I believe I do remember the name you gave me. Simple. Suitable for a brown."

He takes a step towards her and it takes everything she has to resist the urge to back away from him and stand her ground instead. He's trying to intimidate her. She can see the joy it brings him to incite fear in his eyes. It's enough that the gold giant towers nearly three feet above her, but his immensely powerful frame adds an element of terrible awe to him. He is built for war, for destruction, for killing. But with a statuesque, almost godlike perfection that only those genetically blessed golds belonging to high-status houses possess. Karnus wraps a hand around Masae's chin and inspects her closely.

"As I recall, you have a bit of fire in you." He says as he forces her lips to part with one giant thumb that he sticks far into her mouth, pulling down the lower jaw to peer inside at her tongue and teeth. His skin tastes salty. "Well, somewhere at least. I don't see it today. Are we feeling prime?"

"Yes, _dominus._ " She replies. Masae forces herself to not meet his eyes. Even so, she can feel his cruel gaze piercing straight through her as he looks her up and down, twisting her head around to get a better look at each different angle. 

"Hmm, Masae..." Karnus runs his fingers through her thick curls and inspects her ears and the base of her skull. The feeling is almost soothing. "I look forward to being greatly entertained by you, little one. I don't expect I'll be disappointed." 

He backs away from her, giving her another quick once over before he turns to head down the hallway.

"Oh yes, and remember to change the sheets." He calls back to her before closing the door behind him. 


	9. Fusos

Masae comes to clean Karnus's room nearly every day. On days when he is there, he is often busy training in the combat room at the end of the hallway and frequently comes to answer the door covered in a thin sheen of sweat and breathing fast like a dog. Most days there is at least one pink to be found in the room. Always different girls, and each time he sends them on their way when Masae arrives. Karnus enjoys it better when they're alone together and he can add to the challenge of her work by purposefully knocking over mop buckets full of dirty water onto the freshly cleaned floor or assuring that his quarters are made especially dirty for her arrival. He insults her, degrades her, and intimidates her all with that stupid, arrogant, sadistic grin plastered onto his deceptively handsome face. She despises him more and more every day, but with his constant presence in her life she is also growing somewhat less afraid of him. The man is what almost anyone would consider to be fearsome, his towering figure like a biological weapon of war, but he has yet to lay a hand on Masae since her first day of the job and, it would seem, that it has in a way dulled her fear of him over time. Even so, she recognizes the importance of harboring a healthy fear of golds, so she keeps her head low and tries to ignore his bullying. But it is no easy task by any means. 

Today is one of Karnus's training days. As Masae works to tidy up the kitchen she can hear the ceaseless familiar sounds of grunting and metal clanging about the combat room in the back. Golds, always _so_ busy keeping their minds and bodies sharp just so they can prove to one another their merit. She stacks the dirty dishes into the washer. The orange evening sun hangs low in the sky as it journeys to set, lending the room a warm and comforting glow. Masae wishes she could be laying on that beach there in the distance, watching the waves roll in and out as the sun sets. But alas, she is stuck here instead, cleaning like a good little brown servant. Even working in the kitchen would better than this. Much better actually. Masae would much prefer to be slaving away in the bakery, making cakes and pies and other baked goods and confections from sunrise to sundown. At least she would be in tolerable company there. Here it's only a matter of time before Karnus finishes up with his training and shifts his energy and focus onto her. She closes her eyes and takes a breath to calm her nerves. No point getting worked up about something she can't change.

Masae is just finishing up wiping down the windows when she hears footsteps coming from the hallway. Her shoulders tense at the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing as Karnus goes to take his post-training shower and she can't help but pick up her pace. Her hands are shaking. When she hears the faucet turn off once he has finished, Masae nearly drops the bucket of soap and water she's holding. The door to the bathroom opens and footsteps enter the room.

"The combat room needs to be cleaned."

Masae turns to see Karnus standing just by the kitchen wearing only a towel, his skin and long golden hair dripping water onto the floor. His right hand props his weight on the counter while the other rests casually on his hip. His face is expressionless. Reluctantly, she lowers her eyes to him as a sign of respect and nods politely.

"As you wish, _dominus._ "

She passes him to fetch her cleaning trolley by the front door, but when she tries to enter the hall Karnus steps in front of her to block her path. Masae's heart begins to beat a little faster.

"I'm disappointed in you." He says. The deep baritone of his voice makes her skin crawl. She stands there silently, eyes downcast. All she can do is cower in response.

"Useless."

Before Masae can even lift her head, Karnus effortlessly flips her trolley over onto the floor, causing bottles of cleaning products to crack and spill and scattering piles of garbage and dust all about her feet. He grabs her by the hair violently and shoves her onto her knees, pulling her head back to look her in the eyes as the puddle of chemicals she kneels in begins to soak through the fabric of her pants.

"Gorydamn useless brown bitch." He yanks her head back even harder, eliciting a fearful whimper. "I should crush your stupid little head right here on the floor and get rid of you for good."

The angle at which Karnus is holding her head is making it difficult for Masae to properly draw in a breath and she gasps frantically for air as she is forced to look directly into his terrible golden eyes. She doesn't understand what's happening. She's done nothing wrong, so why is he doing this?

"I am so very sorry, _dominus_. Please forgive me, I-I _beg_ you. " She pleads. Her face is shoved hard into a patch of dirt in response. 

"Don't you dare beg." He warns. "Disgusting... I imagine you must have been orphaned as a child. Found in the trash like some unwanted parasite." 

Amidst the fear, an unexpected shock of rage shoots through her body at his words. She struggles to resist and accidentally inhales dust as Karnus shoves the right side of her face even harder into the floor. He lowers his voice to a whisper and draws closer to her so he can speak softly into her ear.

"If you were mine," He says "I would have fed you to my dogs. At least that way you would have served a purpose. Your poor mother must have have been ashamed of the sad excuse for a child that came from her diseased womb."

One more ounce of pressure from the palm of his enormous hand and she's finished. Dead as a doorknob. Done. But something inside her fails to heed the warnings and the human nature of self-preservation. He slanders her own mother. Her strong, ever-kind, beautiful, sweet, caring mother. The one who gave life to her, Aido, and little Momet. And he does so in her death. It enrages her. What could he ever know about love? His world is dark, ruthless, and savage -a tangled web of deception, violence, and political games that suck the life from anyone who dares get in the way. Well, fuck him and his stupid, pointless world. Masae screams. Not in fear or sorrow, but in defiant rage. She pounds her small fists into the wet floor, she pushes back against the gold's giant palm with all her might and struggles harder.

"Fuck you, you bloodydamn bastard! _Lhavo dhjal hei!_ Go to hell!!"

A moment in silence passes before she hears the rumbling of laughter beginning in his chest. Suddenly, much to her surprise, she is freed from his hold. Masae rolls onto her back and frantically scrambles to get as far away from the man as possible, but her back hits the wall of the kitchen counter before she can create much distance. Her clothes are wet and reek with the strong odor of surface cleaner. Her face and hands are covered in a film of dust. She sits there in confusion and shock, trembling in silence. Karnus sits back against the wall across from her, towel wrapped around his waist, grinning like a madman.

"And _t_ _here_ it is." He says with a smile. "I knew it was in there somewhere. I've been looking for that fire. I thought you might have lost it, but I'm glad to see it's still alive and well."

Masae stares at him dumbfounded.

"How good did it feel to scream like that?"

"Wha-what do you mean?" She asks, her shaking voice hardly above a whisper. The fact that she is not dead or even injured has just barely begun to sink in. Karnus leans forward as if he is about to share an important secret.

"I like you, Masae. That's not something I can say about many. The truth is, from the day we met, I could see a secret rage burning you up inside. Now that you're so often in my company, all I want to do is bring it to the surface. You're such a peculiar little storm... all that fire contained in such a tiny body. It's enticing."

"I-I don't understand, _dominus._ "

Karnus rises to his feet to stand at his full height and extends a hand to Masae. She hesitates for a moment, but then takes it. For a brief moment the two stand facing each other in silence and in the absence of fear, the absurdity of the whole situation begins to dawn on Masae. A small chuckle escapes her lips, and another follows. Soon they are both laughing, one caked in dust and grime and the other still damp and clad only in a white towel, standing on a floor wet with Virolax and covered in garbage. 


	10. Præcepit

Karnus has never considered himself to be a kind man. He is sure most others that know him to some capacity -family, friends, enemies- would have to agree. Though as he eyes the small brown servant sitting there quietly, practically engulfed by the soft cushions of the armchair positioned across from his seat on the bed, he almost wishes he could have been more so, in the beginning. He has since stopped denying his attraction to the girl. From that first day they met back on the _Nebula_ he has been drawn to her delicate, fawn-like features, her quiet resilience, the particular sway of her hips, and the arch of her back when she bends to wipe away dust from the paneling. And then there is that unignorable rage sitting just below the surface of trained compliance that sticks out at him like a sore thumb. That's the part of her that draws him in the most. Despite their very obvious differences, they are alike in that one very important way. He watches her sometimes, when she isn't looking, most often when he goes to fill his cup with water from the tap or when he fixes himself a post-training snack from the fridge. She'll be there, working away in silence, intentionally avoiding an interaction, and there his eyes will travel up and down the length of her small, curved frame as he imagines all the ways he could make her squeal. She was oblivious to it all of course, or at least she was at the start. Now, the way her dark eyes watch him intently from behind a curtain of long brown lashes tell him that she is beginning to suspect that maybe there is, and was always more to their interactions than the traditional dynamic. He has generously donated a fresh change of clothes, though the garments are far, far too large for her tiny frame, and she is practically swimming in the fabric. Karnus breaks the silence by stating the obvious.

"What an odd situation this is." 

He leans forward on his elbows, closing some of the distance between himself and the girl so he can get a better look at her. The fear in her eyes still lingers. She flinches, fingers instinctively digging hard into the bunched cloth of the pants she wears. He sighs in disappointment at her reaction, but reminds himself she'll get there soon enough. 

"I'm not going to hurt you." He assures her dryly, slightly irritated that she still requires such careful handling. "All I want to do is talk...and maybe get to understanding each other a little better. Does that sound like a reasonable request?"

To his delight, the brown girl responds with a scowl, the fear in her eyes partially fading. " _Is_ it a request, _dominus_?" She replies. Karnus smiles. His eyes settle briefly on her chest as she draws in a self-soothing breath, before flickering back up to meet her own. They glare back at him with a surprising intensity that sends his pulse racing. By Jove, he wishes he could skip the horseshit and throw her onto the bed, fuck her hard right there. Theoretically he could, but there would be no real fun in that. Another gold would either fight him off or make it good and rough, resulting in _maybe_ a broken bone or two, and a pink would just take it pretend to enjoy it. But, he'd probably end up killing the brown accidentally, and that isn't something he wants to do. 

"That depends on you." He says. 

The girl adjusts herself into a more comfortable seating position so that she is resting on the left arm of the chair and leaning forward slightly. _Good_ , he thinks. She's already more at ease. 

"What did you have in mind?" She asks in response. 

"Well, since I'm sure you have very little trust in our race, and I don't blame you for it, I don't expect you to fully believe anything that I am about to say. That's not an issue for me; I'm quite hopeful that you and I will arrive at a place that will benefit the both of us."

The girl bites her lip and her eyes narrow slightly. "Another proposal?" She says, barely managing to hide the anger in her soft voice. 

"Hardly," He assures. "I'm not sure if you remember, but I recall mentioning my fondness for you earlier this afternoon. It may come as a surprise to you, but that is the truth. This also puts you in a very special position that very few lowcolors have ever found themselves in. I can offer you protection, leverage within your rank, access to a variety of resources and texts to enhance your knowledge of any subject you could wish to study, and considerable financial freedom that could lift you and your family out of poverty."

A look of confusion spreads across the young woman's face. Her soft lips form the shape of an 'o' and her brow furrows slightly as she takes time to process his words, no doubt searching for a hidden catch. 

"May I speak freely for a moment, _dominus_?" She requests, after taking a moment to consider his speech. Karnus lifts a hand to grant her permission. She nods her head to him in thanks before speaking.

" _Dominus,_ if I may be frank, you-you have ruined my life. Because of you, I may never be able to see my sister or my brother again. The day we met, you broke my arm for something I didn't even do without thinking twice about it. And when I lost my job because of it, you sent me on a suicide mission and promised the money would make its way to my family in the instance of my death. Just when I thought I would never have to see you again, you came right back into my life just to make it a living hell. Only an hour ago, I was convinced you were about to kill me. To me, it seems as if seeing me suffer just makes you happier, so forgive me if I don't jump at the offer."

Karnus lets out a sigh. For such a smart girl, she really isn't apt at taking advantage of good opportunities. Though, then again, she is only a brown. He'll have to educate her in that regard. 

"Masae," He starts, "Look at your hands."

The girl's eyes widen at the utterance of her name. Karnus reaches to take both of her tiny hands in his own and turns them so the brown sigils on the backs of them are facing upward. The skin of her hands is warm and soft, but underneath her muscles are straining, resisting the urge to pull away. 

"The bone density of an average Lunese lowcolor, minus obsidians of course, is approximately a third of the density of your average Lunese gold. The numbers vary a bit depending on a few factors. For example, yours and mine would both be a bit denser considering our POs (planets of origin) and individual body compositions, and bone density is always subject to change with prolonged exposure to high or low gravity environments. Regardless, the message remains the same: you are weak. Beyond your comprehension. Until you have seen what gold is capable of firsthand, you cannot even begin to fathom your own powerlessness in the world, unaided." He taps the sigils on her hands lightly with his thumbs. " _These_ tell everyone that all you're good for is cleaning toilets. But we both know that isn't true, don't we."

The girl swallows nervously. Karnus brings a hand to cup her chin, his thumb grazing the skin of her bottom lip, and their eyes lock. It takes everything he has not to tear those ridiculously baggy clothes off and fuck her silly. _Gorydamn_. He puts the thought out of his mind for the moment.

"You are weak. So, use that to your advantage. The Society has already chewed you up and shit you out. You have nothing left to lose, so take what you can. I am offering you aid. Don't think about why. Just take it. And maybe you will get to see your family again."

He feels the tension in her body subside as she takes a moment to consider. He releases her and leans back once again to allow her a bit of space to think. She runs a small hand through her dark, thick, curly hair, her eyes wandering over the floor at the base of the chair- back and forth, back and forth. At last, she turns up to face him once again with a half-decision formed in her deep brown eyes. She has one question for him.

"How do I know you won't hurt me again?"

"You don't."


	11. Messorem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, sorry for the huge delay followed by a super disappointing and super short chapter. I'm not stoked on this part of the story right now, but I have to include it. Might change it a bit in the future, but I just wanted to have something posted. Hopefully I will have another update soon.

Masae is awoken by a rustling noise coming from the bushes. It's a ways away, but it's one that is still a little too close for comfort. Her eyes snap open and immediately seek out Bryant in a silent panic; he should be awake and keeping watch by the fire. When she does see him, sitting still and alert and exactly where he ought to be, she breathes a sigh of mild relief. So she can trust him...maybe. "What was that," She whispers to him. The boy turns his attention to her and his eyes grow wide. He hadn't noticed the sound.

"I heard something off there in the bushes." Masae rushes quietly to crouch down by his side. It's not like there's anything they can do if they're going to be attacked, but being close to someone else just feels safe. The pair scan the treeline together, looking for a sign of something lurking there in the dark, hoping to catch it before it catches them unaware. Nothing. Save the sound of the crickets and night peepers calling out in the darkness. The cold of fear crawls up through the tips of her toes. She can sense that Bryant must be equally afraid, if not more so, based upon the sound of his dry panting he tries to keep as silent as possible. Out of the corner of her eye she sees as his mouth twitches involuntarily into a tragic frown of a person about to cry and she feels a pang in her heart at that. The boy is so young. How did he end up wrapped up in this alongside her? This suicide mission. She's half tempted to ask him right then and there, if not just to know him a little better if he is the one she'll be dying next to after all this, but she stays quiet instead. _Be brave,_ she tells herself. They could live through this after all. You never know. _Beat the odds. You're a survivor, Masae._ The two stand, side by side, facing off against the dark behind the few trees illuminated by the glow of their small fire for what to them feels like an age before they hear another sound, similar to the first, and this time closer. It takes a moment for Masae to realize that the sound happens to be the chopping of foliage. And it seems to be accompanied by voices. So, people. Now she knows that's what's coming, though it doesn't confirm the nature of these night visitors, whether they come with pure or sinister intentions. They must look so helpless, unarmed, disheveled and huddled afraid next to a dying fire like a couple of mice backed into a corner without escape. The first voice to become clear belongs to a man.

"Hands up, nose to the ground, pussies." He announces, sounding more than slightly amused with himself Masae notes. Not entirely malicious though, which could be a good sign. She nudges Bryant to heed his orders and they fall to the ground and raise their hands in the air to show they are unarmed. With her face in the dirt, Masae is unable to look up to see the others as they join them at the fire and there must be at least two more of judging by the number of their footsteps.

"Only two of them?" A woman's voice questions. 

"Just a couple of kids it looks like." Replies a man, different from the first. 

"Let's bring them back to base." Another man orders. He must be the one in charge. His voice is strong, like iron.

Something hard taps Masae on the head. 

"You can get up now." Says the first. "But slowly, and keep those hands up where we can see them."

Cautiously, Masae brings herself to her feet. They are surrounded by golds. Six of them. Her heart nearly stops at the sight. One of them, the shortest (and ugliest) of the party has the barrel of his oversized gun pointed directly at her head. He wears a cruel sneer on his pocked, pale face. The man standing beside him is eyeing them with a cold and calculated stare. He is tall and broad, smaller than only one other in the group -a man with tattooed head who truly is as large as an obsidian, towering over them all. He motions for the smaller man to lower his gun and takes a step forward.

"We're not going to hurt you, but you'll be coming back with us."


	12. Conversus

A year ago, Masae would have never imagined being where she is today, sinking deep into the soft and comfortable cushions of a colossal lemon armchair with a book in hand, gazing out at the distant, sun-washed shore. It's her third read, entitled _Theory of a Demokracy,_ another educational "essential" picked out from the Faran library by Karnus au Bellona himself. His investment in her learning is puzzling to say the least, but as the two seem to have reached a tenuous peace in which the air is no longer laden with dis-ease when they are in the same room, Masae is happy to sit in his quarters and read works of gold propaganda for the sake of resting her feet for a while. And the books really aren't _that_ dull. She must admit, she's been learning quite a bit about the history and culture of gold society, which is surprisingly useful and certainly bolstering for the ego. 

No one is to know about their arrangement. Not a soul. Every day Masae will wake up in her cot about twenty minutes before anyone else to give herself optimal time to prep her cleaning trolley. Afterwards, she'll make her way up to Karnus's room where she'll clean what needs cleaning before settling down mid-morning to read for a few hours. He's often gone by the time she gets there, busy with meetings, legion training, and the like, but they occasionally cross paths on her way out the door to her shift in the kitchen and his return to the dorm. It’s odd, the way he looks at her. She can’t quite put her finger on what it is that makes her feel the way she does about it, like she needs to wrap herself up in a thick winter jacket, but it’s clearly something, and troubling, and she doesn’t like it one bit. And he’s been generous beyond her expectations -both Momit and Aido are being well looked after, just as he’d promised. Masae can’t help but wonder what his motivations are, for him to be acting so amicably towards her, but she’s not sure if she even wants to know. This whole situation is just one big strange mess. She closes the book at Chapter 43, dogearing the page against her better judgement, and stares off in silence at the cloudless blue sky. If only she could be walking along the beach right now, picking up seashells and chasing crabs like she used to do as a child. Simpler times.

Masae reels around in surprise when the door slams suddenly behind her. He’s back early. The giant steps into the room, barely sparing her a glance as he makes a beeline for the kitchen where he immediately begins washing his hands. She’s in horror when she notices there’s blood on his clothes, and lots of it. Even his shoes have left a trail of red footprints behind him. He quickly kicks them off his feet and peels his shirt off his head, tossing it aside as he frantically reaches for a glass of water.

“Clean -that shit up.” He orders between gulps, his hard, muscled chest heaving as streams of water trickle down his neck. A month ago she would have obeyed without so much as a word, but since then she’s grown quite a bit more comfortable in his presence, and so she feels the need to inquire about the situation as she rushes to mop up the blood on the floor.

“What happened?” She asks as she runs the mophead over the red boot prints, streaking the floor bloody. Karnus leans forward with his arms over the counter and draws in a deep breath. A low chuckle emits from his throat.

“Don’t ask if you don’t want to know.” He warns with a laugh. 

“I would like to know.”

“Paid to rough up some poor pixie bastard a little. Broke a few ribs, took an arm, a leg, and his pretty little nose just to make sure he remembers me for a while.” 

Masae pauses for a moment, trying not to picture the description of what happened. It’s hard.

“Are you hurt?” She asks. Not because she cares, because she’s curious. When Karnus lifts his head, he’s beaming -pearly whites and amber eyes glinting in the afternoon sun.

“Wouldn’t have thought you’d be one to care. But no, I’m just –,” He takes a breath. “Feeling the rush.”

Now that strikes her in a particular way. Karnus seems almost elated. The closest _she’s_ ever seen him to joy in any case. And the rich crimson of the blood on his clothes suggests he literally just mutilated some poor sap only minutes ago. The thought of gaining pleasure from causing pain to someone else is a completely foreign one to Masae, but Karnus seems to be savouring it, soaking in every moment of pure bliss as he stares drunkenly out the window in adrenalized ecstasy. Masae watches him, intrigued by the sight, as she tosses his bloodied boots and shirt into a black plastic bag.

“Does it feel good?” She can tell it certainly does, but for some reason she wants to hear him say it for himself. The gold seems surprised by the question. He turns and leans back on an arm to better angle himself to her. His eyes are dancing. With _something._

“Do you want to know?” He questions with a laugh. “Gorydamn, girl. You just keep surprising me.”

When Masae doesn’t answer, Karnus’s smile grows even wider. It’s a strange look on him, smiling. Unnerving. He clicks his tongue in thoughtful amusement before going on to explain.

“Think of the best fuck of your life. Wait- you have fucked before, right? You people aren’t celibate or anything?”

Masae nods impassively, although she feels more than just a little exposed by the question. 

“Well thank Jove for life’s small pleasures. Glad you have at least some respite from your miserable existence. Anyways, the best way I can put it is to say that how it feels after cutting someone up decently well is pretty much equivalent to that feeling you get after a really, really good round. Nothing compares to it, except for killing. And that’s right at the top. Do you have a better idea now?”

Masae doesn’t answer, but continues to stare at Karnus, who has calmed down some and is now wiping the blood off his face with a wet palm. The subsiding tension has her pulse quickening as the shock of the moment begins to wear off.

“Would you like me to leave?” Asks Masae.

“Yes, leave.” Karnus replies with a thoughtless flick of his hand. “I need two pinks and a long nap. Now piss off.”

As Masae walks down the bay hall to her shift in the kitchen in the company of a dozen other browns and reds, she can’t help but think about what it must have felt like. What it must feel like to bloody someone up like he did. Part of her wants to know, wants to feel the ecstasy he felt, slack jawed, staring out into nothing with a stoned look in his eyes after beating some unlucky gold prick into a bloody pulp. But maybe it isn’t as amazing as he claims. Maybe she’d hate it. Or maybe she’d love it. All she knows is that she’ll be thinking about it for some time to come: in her mind’s eye picturing the blood stains left behind on the floor by Karnus’s boots, his flushed, beaming face, massive heaving chest, and shaking hands. Imagining that sorry gold prick left all alone, sprawled in a puddle of his own blood for someone to find. Imaging what it would be like to fuck after that.


	13. Colloquium

There really is nothing quite like sex after spilling blood. The pink twists and writhes beneath him on the large bed, face flushed, singing a melody of sexy little mewing sounds from her pouting lips. It's an incredibly convincing performance. And although Karnus is keenly aware of the fact that his little pink friend would prefer to have nothing to do with him at all and only manages to be as convincing as she is in portraying the opposite from years upon years of training and conditioning, he gives into the illusion a little. And why shouldn't he? She was designed for this after all. Her pale, smooth legs are ever so vulnerably spread open for him, while with one delicate hand she rubs herself, and with the other she grips the fabric of the blanket above her head as he takes her, moaning and sighing warmly all the while. Karnus lets a greedy hand wander over the soft skin of her belly and breasts. She isn’t shy. She welcomes the touch… or at least she pretends she does. And that’s the thing about pinks. No matter how good they might be at making it seem like they want you, they don’t, and they never will. She’ll probably wash him off immediately once she’s back in her dorm. It shouldn’t bother him to know it. It never used to. But as he’s gotten older, it’s become a thought that irks him beyond what it should. 

He admits his thoughts keep returning to the girl. The brown -Masae. It’s her he wants with him now. Her soft caramel skin and small, delicate, perfectly curved frame, pretty brown eyes rolled back, her little mouth curved sweetly in the shape of an ‘o’. If he closes his eyes, he can imagine it’s her beneath him instead of the nameless pink. Only if she were, she wouldn’t be pretending. And Karnus figures that must be why he craves her like he does. Because she couldn’t possibly; the girl couldn’t lie if her life depended on it. Her big, doe eyes just can’t help but speak for her. Which is why if she were here with him now, laying underneath him like that -if it were her making all those delightful, sensual sounds- it would be in earnest. That thought alone is enough to bring him close to the edge. He tenses in pleasure. Sensing the change in him, the pink wraps her slender legs around his waist and paws for him, welcoming him into her arms. She moans softly in his ear, her way of coaxing him to hurry up and finish. Karnus grips the flesh of her ass and pulls her onto him, harder and faster this time and the pink throws her arms around his neck and holds on, moaning, louder now, as he drives into her relentlessly. He comes easy. And then it’s all over. After Karnus pulls himself out, she stands up quickly, cum dripping down her milky thighs, and throws a silk rob over herself. Her eyes drift quickly down to the floor.

“May I excuse myself, _dominus_?” She requests with a slight bow.

“Go ahead.” He replies as he leans back on the bed, feeling heavy and relaxed. The pink nods and turns to leave, offering him the faintest of smiles, just as she’s been told to do after every session for the whole of her working life. When the door closes Karnus tilts his head back and sighs deeply. His day isn’t even close to being over.

In the shower, Karnus leans his forehead against the wall and lets the freezing cold stream of water run down the length of his back and legs. It’s a good feeling. Familiar. But even still, he can’t seem to help himself. He’s horny again. And though he often is and always has been that way, the problem lies with who the object of his attention now happens to be. All manner of filthy thoughts are racing back and forth between his ears. _Gorydamn_ , that romp with the pink did almost nothing for him. He thought it might be able to quell his desires if only for a little while, but it almost seems to have made it even worse. Like a throwing a scrap of meat to a starving dog caged next to a rabbit. He takes a breath to still his mind and leans back into the shower, letting it wash over his face, letting the shock of the cold replace the image of her _._

“We’ve reached a point of crisis.”

Julia au Bellona, the matriarch of their house and the mother of Karnus and Cassius au Bellona’s cold eyes glare sternly out at those who have gathered around the large oblong table. Each gives their undivided attention to the woman at the head. She wears their house colours; a white cotton blouse and cape with golden decals. Her pure, sun-golden hair has been elegantly spun into a braided spiral atop her head. She is beautiful, stoic, commanding. Today, she is imperator Bellona.

“ _Helium-3_ productions have halted entirely in the Hesperia, Hellas, and Noachis regions. We’ve lost hundreds of clients due to recent inconsistency of the quality of _h3_ exports from all across the planet and unreliable production rates. We have all reason to believe that this is the result of internal sabotage, and the longer we allow this to continue, the deeper we will dig ourselves into a hole of debt. Even with grey legions on the ground, we’ve had no success getting the mines back up and running. This is a problem.” 

They speak of Mars. For months now there have been _h3_ production delays. The Bellona mines are one of the core’s biggest suppliers, and without access to _helium-3,_ the core could soon be facing major energy shortages. Karnus looks up from fixing the cuffs of his shirt, and for a moment he and his brother’s eyes meet from across the table. Cassius nods to him in acknowledgement before he shifts his focus to their mother once more. 

“So,” She continues, “All things considered, we need to act. We need to act _fast._ We need to take care of our business, clean up our messes, and get things back on track. I’m sending the _Quine_ to Mars to take care of the situation. Karnus, you’re operating.”

Karnus straightens up and glances around the room to gauge the reactions of the others. He’s young. Not the most experienced at leading missions by a long shot, maybe not the best choice objectively, but he’s not surprised she’s decided to assign him to this one.

“When will we be setting off?” He asks, folding his hands out in front of him. The others at the table are all watching him now, though no one seems to be too chided.

“By next week. We’ll speak later in private. And to the rest of you, this is your commander now. You are all to report to him S-Wednesday morning for mission briefing. Meeting disbanded.”

Karnus and Julia wait until the room clears before they begin. Cassius is the last to leave. He spares a look for his mother and older brother, hoping for a last-minute summons, and when none comes, lets the door shut a bit too hard behind him. Once the room has finally emptied, Julia strains to smile for her son. It’s a tight-lipped, cautious smile, a formality which Karnus doesn’t bother to reciprocate. He waits for her to speak first.

“I thought you might like the chance to flex your muscles.” She quips. 

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well,” Her face scrunches up into a thoughtful scowl. “What we’re looking at is an uprising, a so-called ‘revolution’. In truth, it’s about more than the mines. I didn’t want to go into any detail with the others around. You’re the only one I trust to carry out this assignment. I need you to evaluate the situation in Noachis, Hellas, and Hesperia and report back to me afterwards. I’ll be giving you further directions on the ground. You’ll be taking a number of scarred along with you.”

“For what purpose?”

“If we must make an example of some to save the whole of the industry, then do that we must.”

Apollonius is a striking figure; dark, distinguished, menacing all at once. Karnus considers him a friend, or something close enough to a friend at least. He’s dressed in an all-purple uniform, short hair combed back, standing tall and unmatched in arrogance. Lowcolours move out of the way of their bulk as they stalk side-by-side down the hallway towards the elevator. Large windows line the hall all the way down, allowing for an excellent view of the Hellunas beach to the South, the same view that can be seen from Karnus’ room, only from three stories higher. 

“Care for a swim, my goodman?” Apollonius says with a smart grin.

“Not particularly.” Karnus replies. He presses the button for the lift and glances at his comrade blankly. “Training.”

“Ah, yes. ‘It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.’ You inspire me to do the same. Mind if I join you?”

“I could use a sparring partner.” He says as the elevator doors slide open and the pair steps inside. 

“Excellent.”

They’re taken down two levels before the doors open once more. On the other side, two browns, each pushing a trolley loaded with trays of fruit and vegetables, are engaged in what seems to be a very stimulating conversation with one another. Karnus’ breath hitches in his throat when he sees the girl on the right is Masae, smiling, laughing, and completely unaware of his presence. She’s a vision. He swallows hard. When the girls do finally notice the two men standing at the back of the lift, they immediately fall silent and back into the chamber, pulling their trolleys along with them. Suddenly the room seems too hot. The girl looks back in his direction for a brief moment, eyes wide with worry, and by Jove he’s salivating. Something must be done about this.


	14. Character inspiration!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol I couldn't help myself!  
> This is what our two main characters look most like in my head. 😝  
> Kudos to the artists. Amazing work on both pieces.

Masae -painted study of @theravenlyn by bofenglin (<https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/741827369852402739/>)

Karnus -Prince of Arc by Stanton Feng (<https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z54lx>)

Just replace all the old-timey stuff with RR themed futuristic gear lol


End file.
